Make it two golds for Yulo

PARIS — With speed, power and precision, Carlos Yulo vaulted to greater glory in the 2024 Olympics Sunday here.

Yulo traversed the runway with confidence and purpose, took the table with great control, and sprang with agility towards clean, controlled landing in a pair of dynamic vaults that sent him to even greater immortality.

A golden boy in floor exercise Saturday, Yulo ended up a double-gold winner in a landmark Olympic performance that will now be the new high benchmark to chase for the next Filipino Olympians.

First was weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz as the first gold medal winner for the Philippines in 2021 in Tokyo and now the young gymnast from Leveriza, Manila with two golds under his name in one Olympics.

Yulo earned 15.166 points in his golden vaults, wowing the crowd at the Bercy Arena and ushering another grand moment for Team Philippines with the national flag being hoisted and the national anthem sung a second time in the Paris Games.

“Hindi ko alam ano mapi-feel ko pero sobrang pasalamat sa Itaas, kay Lord na hindi Niya ako pinabayaan binigyan Niya ako ng ganitong lakas at ganitong talent po. Super thankful sa mga taong totoong tumulong sa akin at naniwala,” he said.

“Hiniling ko lang today na maging safe ako, healthy, walang ma-injury sa amin. ‘Yun lang po talaga. Hindi ko ine-expect na ganoon ang kalalabasan ng vault ko so hindi talaga ako makapaniwala kanina,” he shared.

“Pero relax lang ako kanina, parang sige, wala nag mawawala all-out na - ganon na po ang feeling ko. Crazy po talaga itong experience na ito, grabe.”

Thanks to Yulo for his medal blitzkrieg, Team Philippines has surpassed the country’s previous best of 1-2-1 medal haul in the 2021 Games, heralding the further rise of the Philippines a century after its first participation in the quadrennial Games right in this elegant, lovely city in 1924.

With the Philippine juggernaut in 2021 and 2024, the country made a giant jump in the All-Time Medal Table, soaring past strong sporting countries like Israel (3-1-9), Mongolia (2-11-17), Armenia (2-8-8), Puerto Rico (2-2-6), Uruguay (2-2-6) and Asian rivals Hong Kong (2-3-4), Qatar (2-2-4), Bahrain (2-2-0), Vietnam (1-3-1) and many others.

In the current Games at press time, the Philippines was in a mind-boggling joint 19th spot with Azerbaijan, not counting the coming medals from boxing and possibly in men’s pole vault.

Yulo raised both hands then covered his face in disbelief at the end of the program where he emerged the champ, beating seven tough rivals, including bemedaled rival Artur Davtyan of Armenia who settled for the silver with 14.966.

Great Britain’s Harry Hepworth (14.949) edged teammate Jake Jarman, a Fil-British, (14.933) for the bronze.

Yulo was the lone finalist to breach the 15.000 mark as he upgraded the difficulty of his qualifying vault and, coupled with great execution, topped all rivals, including Ukraine’s Nazar Chepurnyi and Igor Radivilov, Iranian Mahdi Olfati and Croatia’s Aurel Benovic.

The fourth in the order of performers, Yulo executed a “Dragulescu” then a “Kozumatzu,” drawing a high 15.433 then 14.800 for the provisional lead.

Then came the tense moment of watching the four remaining gymnasts do their stuffs.

Radivilov, Benovic, Olfati and Davtyan all went all out in a bid to catch up.

But they all failed, paving the way for another championship moment for Yulo and another frenzied celebration for Team Philippines here and the millions tuned in on TV watching history unfold.

Yulo made good use of his rare gift and wrote his name in history as a double-gold champ – a feat that could stand for a long, long time.